Well that's the ladies and men's semi finals over for the 2012 Australian Open and we have seen some pretty extraordinary tennis on display, particularly from the men, so a bit more on that in a tick or few.
So starting with the ladies and the first semi final match between defending champion Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, the World No. 3, who went at it in a see saw battle which ultimately saw Azarenka pull off a win that will see her go into her first grand slam final. Naturally the crowd were behind Kim Clijsters to win as she is such a popular champion, but Azarenka I really have to saw was very impressive in this match, as she really dug deep to bring out the win against Kim in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. In fact I felt a bit sorry for Vika, as I think the crowd almost seemed against her throughout the tournament, but she has worked very hard and played so impressively throughout the tournament. So Azarenka will go on to face the winner of the next semi finals match, which was even more impressive as Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova battled it out for a place in the final. And Maria managed to get the perfect revenge over Petra, as Maria broke her serve to win out a tough match in 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Its great to see a big name in the ladies game go through to the final, and I'm sure Maria will get the audience's full support behind her. Although one pretty alarming factor to Maria's game is her double faults, as in her semi final match she served up 10 double faults! This isn't going to be good news if she continues to serve up that many in the final, and on that basis it could leave Azarenka as the favourite to win the title. But overall though I think the final will be a really good one, and hopefully it will be a 3 set pitch battle (or court battle!). But its hard to predict who will actually win, as the head to head is 3-3 between them both, so it really could go either way. There are also a couple of other factors to consider too in this match, for one Azarenka has never won a grand slam before, as Maria has won three, so will Victoria be able to hold her nerve???? I guess we will soon find out that one, either way it promises to be a good one!
So onto the men's single semi finals, starting with the ultimate showdown between two of tennis's biggest ever rivals, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, as Rog and Raf went right at it in a high quality encounter on Rod Laver Arena. In the first Roger came out of the blocks and played some pretty spectacular tennis and edged Rafa in the tiebreak, however after that Rafa broke Roger and clawed his way back into the match, winning the 3rd set tiebreak and securing the final crucial break in 4th. This saw another bruising victory over Roger with Rafa winning in 6(5)-7, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4, and this now sees Rafa's head to head reach 18-9. Its also marks his second Australian open grand slam semi final, where he will have a chance to lift his 11th slam title. But all that hinges on his next opponent...
Which leads me to the second men's semi final, which was a much anticipated re-match of last year's final between World No.1 Novak Djokovic and the World No.4 Andy Murray. Last year Andy suffered a pretty inglorious defeat at Djokovic's hands, as Djoko blasted Andy off the court in a straight sets defeat. However this year's encounter promised to be quite different, and that couldn't have been more true, as this year's match was night and day in difference. A year on we could see evolution of both men's games, and what we were given was a remarkable semi final, which featured some magnificent tennis, although it was peppered with unforced errors from both players. But this didn't detract from the sheer guts, determination and drive from both players out on the court, as they played an intensely brutal match that lasted very nearly 5 hours. Andy nearly pulled off unthinkable here, as he pushed the World No.1 to the absolute limit and took him the distance in an incredible 5 sets. In a quick summary of the match, Djoko broke Andy in the 1st and took it, in the 2nd Andy broke Djoko and took it, and in the 3rd we were treated to a thrilling see-saw set which Andy took in a tiebreak. However despite 2-1 sets lead, Djoko fought back as he is known to do in the 4th set, which took us to a decider, which despite being broken by Djokovic and trailing 5-2, Andy broke back to level the match at 5-5 all. But in the end it was Djokovic that made the crucial break on Andy's serve, which saw the world's best player fall flat on his back, winning an epic match in 6-3, 3-6, 6(4)-7, 6-1, 7-5.
While I have to say the quality of the match was mixed at times, this match was undoubtedly superb in terms of the skills, grit and bravery of the two men on the court. And yes ok Andy lost again, but he made a stellar leap forward from his ignomious defeat last year, and mentally he did not falter, as he hung tough and pushed the world's best player to the limit. Taking Djokovic the distance in a grand slam match, apart from Roger Federer, no other player has been able to do since 2011, and I think Ivan Lendl definitely deserves credit for this as you could clearly see Andy's greatly improved attitude on the court. Yeah ok Andy did fret once or twice, but he mainly kept it under wraps, and it was a match that showed a man who finally is starting to come of age. Throughout match I could scarcely believe the scoreboard at times, as Andy made such great progress against Djokovic, and one of the best things about the match, was for the first time in a while in Andy's camp, he had given them so much to cheer about in a big match situation. And with Lendl coaching Andy, given Lendl's experience, he has the rest of the year to improve and progress, which I'm almost certain he will.
Throughout the match, Andy showboated some of his best tennis and shotmaking, particularly in winning a crucial point in the 3rd set tiebreak against Djokovic at 6-3, he produced a stunning forehand winner. And perhaps Andy's finest moment came when he broke Djokovic to love when Djoko was trying to serve it out at 5-3, simply superb stuff. Based on that performance, Andy could very possibly go on and win a grand slam at some point, and if he is fortunate to reach another final this year, he could stand every chance of making that final step. But that's all ahead of him, for now Andy should take so many positives from that match, just like he should from his match in Rome last year against Djokovic, as it really showed he truly is a threat to the Serb and could yet be his nemesis. So the young Scot may yet lift some of that silverware.
Sooooo anyway that sets up the men's final, which again is between the world's two best players, Rafa and Djoko, it promises to be an absolute belter, and if that's anything like the US Open, it will be quite amazing. The winner of that one clearly points toward Djokovic, he's beaten Rafa six times in a row, and with that record you can't really bet against him. However one thing in Rafa's favour is that he will have had two full days rest before his match with Djokovic, which will leave him the fitter and fresher of the two, especially as Djoko has just finished a very gruelling 5 hour match. But this doesn't necessarily guarantee he will win against Djokovic, as he proved today against Andy, the will to win is still as strong as ever, and by hook or by crook he will try.
Anyway more to follow soon on the ladies final once that's over tomorrow, Maria Sharapova vs Victoria Azarenka, looking forward to that one!
Till then bye for now.
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